


Those three words

by BurningAmber



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: M/M, Pining, Poetry, introspective, k/s day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 09:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20654681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurningAmber/pseuds/BurningAmber
Summary: Between his Captain and him lies a whole universe.K/s day 2019





	Those three words

Your hand lies a finger away from mine,  
Casually on the table.  
You speak of courage, of risk, of our business,  
Strong, confident and radiant.  
All eyes in the room are on you,  
Your comrades, your team, your family.  
My eyes linger on the gap between our hands.  
In the hollow of an ancient mountain of my people,  
Lies the chamber of katras,  
Where they say the essence of joined hearts live on.

Will you return from planet side?  
Or will this be your last briefing?  
Men like us don’t know how to stop,  
How to give up the chase of unknown.  
Is that why my heart seeks you?  
To explore your depth?  
Where do you end and where do I begin?  
You turn towards me, a smile dancing on the corners of your eyes,  
I take one fleeting last look at our hands lying together.  
Refuse to meet your gaze.  
Then I look up and perform my duty.  
Human eyes on me. So fragile. So warm.

The hand is gone from my side.  
Men and women leave to explore a new frontier.  
I watch you go.  
Empty space left on the transporter platform.  
Aren’t we all empty spaces as well?  
Made of stardust from dawn of time,  
stitched together by a fabric of skin.  
Propped up haphazardly by brittle bones.  
Why do I then prefer the one called Jim?

Thirty six hours.  
My heart has long converted to the Terran system.  
Time is all I have.  
Sometimes to spend next to you.  
Sometimes to mark its passage by your absence.  
I check the computer. Mind the bridge. Pretend to sleep.  
Thirty six hours of my heart pumping blood.  
My lungs expanding and collapsing.  
If you don’t return there will be no us ever again.  
Your people will cry.  
A captain lost, a fearless soul gone.  
It is illogical to weep.  
What begins must always end.  
The universe won’t stop.  
Our hands won’t touch.

The last one to appear is you.  
I stand with my hands clasped tight.  
Behind everyone who has gathered to welcome.  
I wait for the moment.  
The transporter returns your molecules intact.  
Warm eyes. Pink skin.  
Thirty six hours your heart pumped red blood.  
I am grateful to it.  
Across the room your gaze finds mine.  
It’s a minuscule slice of life.  
Wrapped in one microsecond.  
But it is all mine.  
You looked at me first.  
I do not know what tomorrow will bring.  
But today I get to say, “Welcome back, Captain.”


End file.
